An Aug. 1 letter to Mills from City Manager Diane Barnes that notified him of his immediate termination cites a July 24 incident in which Barnes contends Mills showed “poor judgment” by charging a woman with a civil violation rather than a criminal violation. Also of concern, Barnes said in the letter, is that Mills “took the female subject from that incident to a motel where you made an earlier arrest and allowed her to spend the night in a room where the arrestees’ belongings of an unrelated incident should have been secured.

“Your credibility came into question,” Barnes said in her letter, “when Sgt. Fitzsimmons asked you if you had returned to the motel later after dropping off the female subject. You responded that you did not return to the motel. However the police cruiser video shows you did return to the motel.”

Mills said Wednesday in a telephone interview that he had arrested two people for parole violations at the motel before being called away by border patrol law enforcement to deal with a woman who was found to be operating a vehicle without a license.

“Her mother was in Bangor and needed to come get her, and the motel room was the only place I could think of to put her,” he said Wednesday. “I didn’t know if the room was authorized for use, but, other than that, she would have been walking the streets of Calais.”

When asked if he had any sexual contact with the woman after bringing her to the motel, Mills said Wednesday that he did not.

“I was taken aback by the whole thing,” he said of his termination. “It was pretty unfortunate, and it got really political real quick.”

Barnes’ letter also cites an incident on July 18 during which she contends that Mills demonstrated “poor judgment and lack of common sense” in leaving a prisoner with Calais Fire Department personnel in order to respond to another call.

“The prisoner was not restrained,” she said, “and should never have been the responsibility of civilian personnel.”

Mills was a new hire on probationary status, which meant the city could terminate his employment with or without cause. Barnes said in her termination letter that Mills’ violation of Calais Police Department policies “have caused loss of confidence in your suitability to become a regular member of the department.”

Mills said Wednesday that, after his termination in Calais, he was hired by the Indian Township Police Department.